In what has been considered as the biggest binding trade deal, British company, BG Group will be supplying $60 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.

As per the statement made by the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, the singing of deal has finally made official what is termed as the first full- length sales contract for LNG. This would be sourced from the coal seam gas project, situated in Queensland project.

The deal was signed in Beijing and would see an import of 72 million tons of LNG for 20 years time.

It is dependent on foreign funds for the investment part and is still awaiting regulatory and other approvals. These are expected to come by mid-2010.

The deal, said the minister, has shown that Australia has continued to be an attractive destination as the coal seam gas-based LNG province. It has also made sure that Australia remains the market leader in this segment.

China's state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Britain's BG Group are the two parties which are involved. As per the deal, CNOOC will be buying 3.6 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of LNG.